


Lifeline

by Liyyah



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 06:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11822835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liyyah/pseuds/Liyyah
Summary: Donna receives some bad news but Harvey's there to keep her from completely falling apart.





	Lifeline

**Author's Note:**

> I desperately needed Harvey comforting Donna so I went and wrote it hope it isn't too terrible.

Donna sat at her desk, her heart barely beating in her chest as the words from her sister replayed in her mind like a broken record.

_It's dad. He had a heart attack._

And the eternity that passed as Donna desperately clutched the phone to her ear, not daring to breathe before those final two words were spoken.

_He's gone._

She hadn't been able to utter a sound. She hadn’t been able to move. So she just remained there, motionless, staring at the papers before her.

Donna had just been about to leave when she got the news. It was late. The only person who was probably still here was Harvey but she wasn't even sure. He had been off since he and Paula broke up for whatever reason and she had been too busy to find out what was wrong. Although if she was being honest with herself she’d admit that she didn't exactly want to know the details of Harvey and his ex therapist. But a part of her couldn't help but still feel like she had to prove to the world that she deserved her promotion so she had buried herself in her job, working twice as hard than usual.

That was the reason that she hadn't spoken to her father in so long and now…she would never hear his voice again.

“Donna what are you still doing here?”

The red head looked up from where she had been mindlessly staring to find Harvey standing in the doorway.

His eyes widened a little as he took her in and concern laced his features as he walked into the room.

“What's wrong?” he asked softly and something about his gentle tone made it even more difficult to breathe.

Donna opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. She couldn't say it. She didn't know how to. Those string of words together in a sentence didn't make sense.

She balled her hands into fists, her nails digging deep into her skin because she needed to focus on another kind of pain.

“My father,” she finally managed to get out.

She swallowed, silently screaming at herself to keep breathing because she could not break yet she _would not break_

“He had a heart attack. He didn't make it.”

And just like that, it was real.

“I'm so sorry,” Harvey uttered, his face crumbling as if he was shattering _for_ her and it was too much. Everything was too goddamn much.

The tears she had been fighting to keep at bay ran freely down her cheeks and the whole world blurred.

However through her bleary vision she was still able to make out Harvey’s form as he strode around her desk to stand next to her chair. He reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezing in an attempt to comfort her. But then he moved his hand down her arm, tenderly tugging at her elbow in a silent request to stand. Numbly, she rose from where she was sitting and before she knew what was happening she found herself in Harvey’s arms.

Surprise filled her for a second but then she was wrapping her arms around him too and the tears were coming faster as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, soaking his expensive suit. But he pulled her even closer, like maybe if he held her tightly enough he would be able to keep her from falling apart. He didn't know that it was too late. That she broke the minute she got that damn phone call.

The room was quiet as he held her, Donna’s cries being the only sound to fill the space. He didn't tell her that everything would be okay or that she would be fine because he didn't need to. Most of the time they didn't even need words and he was able to convey all that and more by the simple way that he allowed her to lean on him. By the way he took some of her grief into his own heart so that she might be able to breathe a bit easier.

Donna and Harvey stood there in the middle of her office, suspended in time. She wanted to stay there forever. She wanted him to wipe her tears and kiss her forehead and take her back to her apartment and hold her for the rest of the night. She wanted to bury herself in his chest and build a home there because he already lived in hers.

But she knew that was not how this would end.

So she relished the moment while it happened, breathing in the man before her and committing every second to memory so that she may be able to relive these vital minutes over the next few days. Right now Harvey was the only thing that kept her standing and she would need to hold on to this feeling to get through everything. He was her lifeline.

Thus, in the midst of tragedy, Donna Paulsen allowed herself a single selfish act as she let herself become lost in the one person she would never be able to have. Because no matter how much she tried to bury whatever it was she felt for him, those feelings refused to go away. They haunted the hollow walls of her heart.

Outside on the streets of New York City, life continued for everyone else but Donna remained wrapped up in her little bubble, permitting Harvey to shield her as best as he could. And even long after the tears stopped falling, she kept holding on to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my shitty fic y'all pls feel free to leave a pity kudos thx


End file.
